


The Third Choice

by majortom



Series: Currere Sex [8]
Category: Fallout: New Vegas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-30
Updated: 2015-10-30
Packaged: 2018-04-28 23:44:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5109851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/majortom/pseuds/majortom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Six already knows how hard it is to gain trust without lying. Now she learns how hard it is to gain obedience without killing. Set slightly before Flawed Beings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Third Choice

 

The Legion remained in their location until the trickle of incoming Tarahumara runners stopped. They returned to Santa Ana and posted enough soldiers and slaves to permanent duty there to establish a foothold and start rebuilding. But they didn't leave yet. Six knew, because she was privy to every communication that came and left Caesar's camp, that the reason was unrest in Flagstaff. Primus Augustus was dead, and arguments about succession were abounding. She was sure they would strike out north soon.

The Tara people would be a huge boon to the Legion. Messengers with their speed and stamina would be very helpful given the large landmass that the Legion now controlled. Vulpes had selected a few for his Frumentarii, and there were even some females who arrived. Six took immediate control of all the new women. Precedents had to be set, after all, both to the Legion and to the new women. Six had her first experience in punishing her subordinates. She didn't put anyone up on a cross, or even have their sisters bludgeon them to death. But there were a few that were not cowed by being put on mess detail. She was alternately filled with guilt at forcing them to be a part of the Legion and infuriated by how ungrateful they were for being spared a slave's fate. Sometimes she wished she could beat them into submission herself. It would certainly be symbolic, but the Arcade that lived in the back of her head and her still-weak leg stilled her hand.

But the real Arcade, and also Vulpes, were unhelpful. Vulpes pointed out that usually when the adult males were troublesome, they were killed and only children salvaged from the tribes they conquered. The Tara were different, having the skills they did. But there were enough male Tara that they could afford to beat a few to death for insubordination. That made the rest think twice about spitting at the feet of their leaders. There were only four women, and she wanted to keep them all if she could.

Arcade simply couldn't recommend the physical harm of anyone.

For now, she had the newcomers under watch, and refused to give them the standard machetes. One of them, Onawa, was more troublesome than the rest. She was definitely the ringleader. Six consulted with Yvana, then one night called them all to her. Arcade wouldn't be happy with what she was about to do, but he had failed to think of something better. And so had she.

"You have three choices," she told them, speaking slowly. They all spoke decent English, if heavily accented, and for that Six was grateful. "If you do not want to be a warrior, you can choose to go to the slave barracks. You can wash clothes. You can be beaten and raped by soldiers when you bring them their dinner. If you want that, speak up now."

The women looked at her suspiciously, but said nothing. She hadn't expected them to. That wasn't even a serious offer, she just hoped it might scare them. "If you do not want that, you can remain here with me, and find honor through your skills and loyalty."

"What is third choice?" Onawa asked in a sharp tone.

Six fixed her with a steady stare. "If you want to die for your tribe so badly, I will oblige you."

She looked momentarily confused. She probably didn't know the word 'oblige', but Yvana said quickly, "Si quieres morir por tu tribu tan mal, voy a complacerte."

Onawa smiled, then spat on the ground. "Yo estaría orgulloso de morir por la Tarahumara."

Six looked at Yvana, who nodded sadly. She sighed. "Very well." She unholstered her 12.7, but didn't raise it. She couldn't. But she couldn't let Onawa continue to fight with her Spartans and overtly ignore her authority, either.

Shame filled her. She looked over at Yvana. The woman had been ready to watch her shoot Onawa in the head. She trusted Six that much. She tried to steel herself. It was her responsibility to make this work. Her female force was the vanguard of change in this society. She couldn't sacrifice that for any one individual. Not herself, and not this Onawa tribal.

But she couldn't raise the weapon. She couldn't invoke decimation; ordering her Spartans to kill Onawa would be the same as pulling the trigger herself. She couldn't let her go. Aside from setting a bad precedent, she was a desperate woman. Who knew what trouble she would cause? She obviously couldn't force her to go to the slave barracks. Not if she wanted to have any credence on the issue of ending slavery down the road.

"Qué quieres?" she asked quietly.

Onawa looked confused again. "Voy a quemar todo, si puedo. Una muerte honorable es todo lo que yo deseaba."

Six gritted her teeth. "Fine."

\---

Six gathered her Spartans the next day around a makeshift arena she and Yvana constructed in the night. Merrin lined up the other three Tara women, and directed Onawa to the center of the arena. She was much more agreeable now that she had a machete and the prospect of possibly killing Legion members.

"Onawa would like an honorable death," she yelled. "Who will give her one?"

Reggie stepped forward. Six was relieved, in a way. Reggie was an excellent fighter. With luck, only one woman would die today.

With no more words, they began the dance. By the end Reggie was injured, but not seriously, and Onawa was dead.

Six let the image of her wide, blank eyes burn into her memory, then turned to the Tara woman closest to her.

"Your turn," she said harshly.

"No, no--" the woman protested.

"You don't want an honorable death?"

"Ah, no, Trivia--"

"You would rather have an honorable life? Because this--" she flung her hand toward Onawa's corpse "--this is the alternative!"

The woman put her hands up and stuttered. Six knew in the back of her mind that the woman probably didn't know English well enough to understand everything she just said, but she didn't care.

"What about you?" she asked the second woman. "And you?" she said to the third. "Would you like an honorable death?"

Their eyes were downcast. All three women fell silent.

"Good," Six said. "Merrin!"

Merrin ran up to her.

"Keep them under watch," she said. "But give them machetes. Put them in the drills. If they cause any problems, subdue them."

Six stalked away and left the logistics to Merrin and Yvana. She needed to be further away from the smell of blood.

\---

She didn't go to Arcade. Even if he admitted he had no better solution, he would be horrified by her choice and what she had forced others to do. She didn't go to Vulpes. She couldn't handle him congratulating her on a job well done, which is surely what he would call it. She didn't go to Caesar. He wouldn't even understand what was important about the event. She sat heavily at her desk and absently massaged her aching thigh. Onawa had never been a Spartan, not really. Hadn't wanted to be. That didn't matter. Made it worse, in a way. Six added the name to her mental list of lives she had taken. For the first time in a long time, she wished she had a good, stiff drink.


End file.
